After a short pursuit today , Greene County Sheriff's deputies say they arrested an impaired driving suspect who still had sticking from his body a syringe.

The man also allegedly assaulted a sheriff's dog and nearly ran over a former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher.

The department's official Twitter account said deputies were in the area of South Scenic and James River Freeway about 11:30 a.m. looking for a suspect who had "fled from a traffic stop."

A News-Leader photographer saw several deputies in the area of LaSalle Street, just outside city limits, then saw a man taken into custody in the backyard of a home in the neighborhood.

Deputies confirmed they have the suspect in custody.

Sheriff Jim Arnott said the suspect was seen driving erratically and was pursued by a deputy. He eluded the deputy by crashing through fences and yards before crashing the stolen pickup on West LaSalle Street.

One of the yards the truck drove through adjoined the property of former Cardinals pitcher Josh Kinney.

Kinney said he was working in his garage when he heard a commotion and walked down to the mailbox to see what was going on.

"Next thing I know, the fence behind our house came blown apart and a truck came through there going a highspeed, went right past me," he said.

Kinney said the truck went through the yard and back into the street. He said the truck came within about 15 feet of him.

He said he went back inside to get his gun and when he came out he could see the man was trying to get into one of the homes. Kinney said the suspect saw him with a gun and might have been scared away.

Kinney said it was a frightening moment, but he's glad his children and others weren't in the area at the time.

Arnott said the suspect was tracked to a house by a K-9 unit and was engaged by the dog after refusing to surrender. Deputies say the suspect assaulted the dog, Lor.

The man, who appeared to have bite marks on at least one wrist, has been transferred to a local hospital.

Arnott said the suspect appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance and had the syringe sticking from his body when arrested. What kind of drug allegedly involved is not clear.

He said the man was "definitely high on some kind of narcotics."

News-Leader reporter Stephen Herzog contributed to this report.

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Former Springfield Cardinal Josh Kinney was almost run over by a stolen pickup that crashed through a neighbor's fence as the driver eluded a deputy sheriff.
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